GARY STRYDOM 02

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İbadet sadece bedenle olur mu ?

İbadet sadece bedenle olur mu ?

Kurban kesmek gibi nafile bir ibadet malla olur . Hac , hem mal hem de bedenle olur .

Oruç , bedenle olur . Biçimsel namaz da bedenle olur . Zekat , malla olur . Abdest , gusül , teyemmüm gibi ibadetler de bedenle olur .

Okumak da bir ibadettir . O da bedenle olur .

Ticaret yapmak da bir ibadettir . O da mal ve bedenle olur .

Yani sadece bedenle olur demek doğru değildir ibadet için . Oruç tutmayanlar orucunun fidyesini vererek malla ibadet etmiş olurlar .

Yemin keffareti üç gün oruç tutmaktır . Bu da bedenle yapılan bir ibadettir .

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Coşkun Sabah , 2014 yılındaki Nihayet adlı albümü ile nasıl bir performans sergilemiştir ?

Coşkun Sabah , 2014 yılındaki Nihayet adlı  albümü ile nasıl bir performans sergilemiştir ?

Aşığım sana / Doyamıyorum … diye giden şarkıyı da barındıran bir albüm olmuş bu albüm .

“ Sana ben kurban olaydım “ bu albümde favori şarkım .

Albümde 9 adet şarkı var . Bunlardan biri ud taksimi .

Albüm tam bir Coşkun Sabah albümü olmuş .

Aşığım sana adlı şarkı hızlı versiyonda söylenmiş .

Gerçek dostum adlı şarkıyı biraz daha az sevdim .

“ Benim aşklarım hep böyledir “ adlı şarkı eskilerden olsa gerek .

Şarkılarda yoğun olarak ud kullanılmış .

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Cuba Rock

Con Hollahan's mark

-- Researched and Written by Walt Chiquoine

This research began with some questions that Scott tossed out concerning Ramsey Ridge.  What did we know about Con Hollahan, Mount Cuba, and a reference to an “Irish Wall”?  Is Mount Cuba synonymous with Cuba Rock, the name Con gave to his land?  Where did the name Cuba come from?  And could an “Irish Wall” be a part of his original homestead?  We found sufficient evidence to re-tell the story of Con Hollahan and Cuba Rock in a new light.    

Con Hollahan is well-known in the historical writings of the Diocese of Wilmington, since he is credited with hosting the first Roman Catholic services in northern Delaware.  Con was described in a history of the local Catholic Church, written in 1884-86, by his descendant  Charles Esling.  From Esling’s history [which can be found here, beginning on page 117], we are told that Con Hollahan arrived from Ireland before 1747 and settled on a tract he called Cuba Rock.

Catholic Jesuit missionaries traveled between the Bohemia River in Maryland and the Philadelphia region, at times stopping at Con’s home.  For some unknown reason, the location was noted by the Jesuits as White Clay Creek, and is first referenced (in their own records) by that name in 1753.  The Hollahan farm served as a rest stop and place of worship for another 20 years until the Jesuits bought a nearby property and established a church.

 

The Property of Cuba Rock

 

Esling’s story of Con Hollahan goes on for many pages, well-documented with primary sources and family recollections.  Despite the quality of his sources, Esling never actually defined Con’s property.  He further speculated that Con donated the land for St. Mary’s Church at Coffee Run, but we know this is not true.
 

Exactly 100 years after Esling’s history, the land around Ramsey Ridge attracted the attention of Mary Gowan.  Mary, a local historian who lived in Ireland for a few years, was familiar with old stone remains in the area.  She wrote an extensive report that speculated this was an Irish Colony from the 1680’s, part of “New Ireland” that Lord Baltimore was trying to build through his cousin and agent, Col. George Talbot.  (Lord Baltimore and William Penn argued over their boundary for many years.)  Part of her 1986 report was about a visit to the site that year, before the land was bulldozed for the coming development.

 

In the end, there was little evidence to support Gowan’s theory, although her recognition of the old Irish architecture was meaningful.  She acknowledged a location that she believed was Con Hollahan’s homestead in Ramsey Ridge, and I think she had that right too.  And it was Gowan’s search in 1986 that gave meaning to a “Historic Irish Wall” that still exists today.

 

Donn Devine, archivist for the Diocese of Wilmington, first sketched out Con’s property called Cuba Rock in 2000.  He based it on a deed from 1793, for the sale from Con’s estate to Evan Phillips.  Devine included property later purchased by John Hollahan, Con’s son, and the property at Coffee Run (Priest’s Farm) purchased by Rev. John Lewis.  It is the house of John Hollahan, built in the 1780’s, that still sits in the middle of Ramsey Ridge today.

  

 

To get a better idea of the Cuba Rock tract, I lay it out here on a 2007 image from Google Earth – it is the strange hourglass shape.  You should be able to see the Mount Cuba Center at the north of the tract.  This hill, one of the highest (and steepest) points in Delaware, must have been the Cuba Rock of Con’s estate – and the Mount Cuba from which the area took its name.  I can further substantiate his property using deeds of the neighbors surrounding him at the time:  Bishop, McKnight, Nivin, Crossan, Mercer, Jordan, Nichols, and Tate.

 

 

I believe that Con acquired his property in two tracts – northern and southern, split at the waist if you can imagine.  The southern property was probably vacant land, and could have been the first property he purchased.  (The deeds are lost.)  The northern property was originally owned by Daniel Barker, son of Samuel of Barker’s Bridge, and it was part of a larger tract that straddled Red Clay Creek.  Barker acquired the land in a warrant from 1734, and his survey was recorded the following year.  Daniel died before 1752 and his property east of RCC was sold; did Con buy the western tract from Barker’s estate, or did he buy it earlier?  We don’t know.  But once again, we can bracket Con’s arrival between 1735 and 1750.

 

Con’s Homestead

 

 

The circumstantial evidence suggests that Con settled at the southwest corner of his tract, as circled on the 1937 aerial photo above.  (The bounds of his property are still evident.)  It is the nearest access to Wilmington Road and Coffee Run, while Mount Cuba remained remote.  According to Gowan, there was evidence of a graded drive, a bank barn, and a stone home.  Were they from the 18^thcentury?  Today, it is the location of a very old wall, whether as fence or foundation we don’t know.  Looking at a detail of the circled area shows a portion of the rectangular wall.  It is evident on recent satellite images as well, but in someone’s backyard.

 

 

 

 

So we can clearly show the bounds of Con’s property to include today’s Mount Cuba.  We can logically presume that Con lived on the eastern portion of Ramsey Ridge, close to Wilmington Road, as Mary Gowan did.  And while the “Historic Irish Wall” may not stem from an Irish colony in the 1680’s, it appears to originate 50 years later with Con Hollahan, the pious Irishman who harbored the local Catholic Church for over 25 years.

 

Con and the Name Cuba Rock
 

Charles Esling concluded that Con Hollahan was an affluent and upper-class Irishman, but that too doesn’t seem to hold up.  Con bought poor land that was unwanted; he signed his mark and was therefore illiterate; he died with a large mortgage on his property.  I think Con came to America with very limited means, yet he lived a long and generous life.     

 

Esling speculates that Con Hollahan was from Charleville in County Kerry, from the line Wallachain of Munster.  He admits finding no direct family connections.  But contemporary genealogists believe there was a larger line of O’Hollohans (it was a name with many spellings) that emerged in County Offaly and slowly migrated south.  Later data from the mid-19^thcentury seems to support this conclusion, showing the majority of Hollahans in Kildare, Laois, Kilkenny, and Offaly Counties.  These counties are south-central on the map below.

 

Scott uncovered information that may suggest an origin for Con and the name Cuba.  Outside the town of Banagher, County Offaly, there was a large and stately home believed to be built in the 1730’s by George Frazer.  It became known as Cuba House or Cuba Court.  Frazer was supposedly the former Governor of Cuba (as told by the Brontë sisters), but Cuba was a Spanish colony that never had an English Governor.  While the story is suspect, the name Cuba remains there today.  Did Con come from County Offaly, near Cuba House?  We don’t know.

 

Cuba House in County Offaly, Ireland

Since we can’t prove Con’s origin, we have to consider an early Gaelic origin for the name Cuba.  It doesn’t seem to be in current use, but it can be found in an 1885 dictionary with the meaning “bed”.  I was able to tie that to the Latin cubitum, the word cubo meaning to lie down or recline.  And thanks to the Romans, there were plenty of Latin words in the early Gaelic language.  Imagine a very humble man naming his property as “the rock where I sleep.” 

Cuba Rock.  Could it be that simple?

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My Tips and Truths About Blogging

I saw many bloggers participating in Taylor's linkup for "Blogtober", a linkup where one posts a blog post everyday in October aligned with the daily theme. Since my middle name is "planner" and I have a lot scheduled for this month, I have not participated, though I love the idea! 

One of the daily themes that was recently had, really stuck out to me. It was 10 tips, advice, lies, and/or things you have learned about blogging. I thoroughly enjoyed reading how other people perceive and value blogging. 

For quite some time, some of my friends and readers have asked me to write a post on how I have grown my blog, my plans, tips, and/or advice. I have been hesitant to ever write a post like that because quite frankly, who am I to tell someone how to blog? It kind of annoys me when people put rules to blogging. There is no right or one wrong way; blogging is what you want you want to make of it and that is what I love about it! 

Seeing those blog posts gave me the inspiration to write about my experience blogging thus far. I wanted to write about what I have learned, advice I have, tips, and I would love for you guys to share yours as well.  This is by no means a standard to follow; as I stated above, I do not really believe in that. This is more of my view thus far on the world of blogging. 

My truth about blogging is that I never knew how much joy and purpose it could bring to me. Simply put; this is my thing. I spent the better part of my teenage and young adult life trying to figure out what the hell I want to do with myself. I knew I wanted to make a difference. I knew I wanted to bring women together and to try and make the world a better place. I was just unsure how exactly to do this. 

Then I started writing. 

When I was growing up, I was always writing and drawing (I was no good), and making short stories. I never thought about making it a career though. To be honest, I would have not even known where to begin anyway. Then in June of last year, I randomly started this blog on Thursday afternoon. I had been reading a few lifestyle blogs for a couple a months and I really enjoyed it. I am a naturally curious about other peoples lives; nosy if you must, so I thought it would be fun to create an online scrapbook of my life. I started this blog solely because I wanted to document my day-to-day life, no matter how boring or monotonous. 

I also wanted no one to read this that I knew personally. Thanks to Google and being semi-known for my weight loss, people that I knew personally slowly but surely started to find out about my blog. I contemplated deleting it then, but I held off because I grew to love it so much. However, that changed when my partner (ex now) found my blog. He hated it. I am unsure why... well no I am not, I know why (no one was allowed to give me compliments or attention). I then thought "Well now I have to delete my blog. Even though I love it so, so much, and it makes me incredibly happy, there is no way I can continue to write anymore". This resulted in a hiatus for about 3 weeks. 

During that time, life as I knew it changed 100%. My two and a half year relationship ended, I started a new job, I was moving, and I had gained so much weight since the end of 2012 that I was rapidly approaching the heaviest I had ever been. 

At the end of October, I opened my blog back up, and I told myself that now I was going to start living for myself. I had let myself and my happiness go for so long. My life was in sense starting over and I wanted to document it on this blog. I desperately needed it too.

In January, the direction of my blog started to change. I started writing about my weight loss journey, my new life, my problems, my afflictions, and everything in between. That is when my passion really started to grow. I started to realize my purpose in life was writing and helping other people. I am not afraid to open myself up to judgement and criticism in hopes that it can help someone else heal or avoid making mistakes that I have. 

Blogging has now become one of my greatest passions in life. I do it to document my life; and it is definitely still my online scrapbook. More so, I do it to help me grow as a person and other people. Writing is unbelievably therapeutic for me and my readers and friends I have made from here have helped me more than words could ever say. I love each of you from the bottom of my heart and no matter the direction my blog goes into, I hope you always know that. 

My hope for this blog and that it keeps growing; and I am willing to put it in the work and effort that requires, especially because no matter what I will always be authentic. I hope Fitness Blondie continues to expand and inspire, and I want to write novels. I am taking it one day at a time, but that is my vision; and a girl with a vision becomes a woman with a purpose.

This is the biggest piece of advice I could ever give to anyone who wants to blog or already does. Please be you. If everyone was the same, this network of people would be so boring. Variety truly is the spice of life. Do not compare your blog design, logistics, or writing style to anyone else. People see through "fake" and "staged", and it is not a good look for anyone. If your blog is meant to grow, it will. If this is your calling and you want to become "blog famous", it will happen. You can buy numbers, but you cannot buy readers.

Do not be someone you are not. People are going to appear to make a lot more money than you, have the perfect, husband, children, house, cars, and so on, and it is fine to be intrigued and interested in it, but remember to not compare yourself to that and embrace the life you have.

Opening up on my blog was one of the scariest but greatest things I have done. By being raw and honest, I have come to terms with hardships of my life and I have been able to properly move on. Sometimes writing my deepest and most personal posts have lifted such burdens off of my soul. In addition, it has also allowed me to see that so many of my friends and readers have gone through similar situations and have given me great hope and advice. Being honest is one thing I admire most about some of my favorite blogs, but when you are writing, be honest in a tactful way. You never know who will find and read your blog. 

There have been so many times where I wanted to be brutally honest and share so many personal things that have happened to me, that would maybe make my situations more understandable, but I had to digress. It is hard holding back on some things, but necessary. It is also important to remember that the more you open up, the more you open yourself to criticism. 

The above tip brings me to my next one. Not everyone is going to like you nor is everyone going to understand you. Blogging is no different than real life, so please be ready for it.  If you really enjoy blogging, dedicate a lot of time and effort, and end up growing, the criticism and negativity about you may happen more. The more you are known, the more people have to say about you. It is unfortunate that it has to happen this way, but it is something you do not have control over. 

At first the negativity could be hard to ignore, but over time it gets easier. When I told my mom about it her reply was "get used to it". I was shocked at that response. She added "Listen if you want to grow your blog like you say do and I believe you can, you are going to have to understand and accept that people are not going to like you. Not just that, but people are going to be jealous of you and do anything they can to see you fail. It is what happens to people who become successful and get known. If you cannot handle that, you need to rethink your dream of writing books and blogging". 

And just like that, I got over it. I love makeup and wear a lot of it. I love feeling sexy and confident. I write about my weaknesses and flaws, and I do it to help myself and other people. Those are easy targets for people who dislike me. I could not allow it to tear me apart. I work and try far too hard for something like that to take over and deter me from my dreams. If you are a good person and a good friend, you will find that in blogging, the positive unbelievably weighs out the negative.

Sometimes though, the criticism will be constructive. I am not perfect, nor are you. Be open to suggestions and growing as a brand and person, but ignore the petty and ignorant things.  If you do not think you can handle any type of negative feedback, blogging may be hard on you. Going through this has made me a much stronger and surprisingly more confident person. 

We all want to be heard. We all love those comments. We all love to see how numbers grow. But be genuine. I love to write, which is why I in turn love blogging. Therefore, I really want my blog friends and readers to read what I write. As a result, I always do the same for them. If a person pours from their heart a long blog post and posts a picture; and someone comments solely on the picture, it is kind of insulting. I do not believe in commenting just to comment or following just to follow. That takes so much away from goal. Not every blog will appeal to you, if it doesn't, move on. If you want a solid, real readership base, then be a solid reader. The same goes for blog hop and link ups; do not participate solely to promote your blog. Take advantage of having a network of bloggers at your fingertips and mingle! I can sum this tip up in a few short words: be the type of reader you want on your blog.

This seems to be a touchy subject for people. If you truly love blogging and want to take it further than just a hobby, do it. Blogging is grossly underestimated with the amount of time and dedication it takes. I spend at least 24 hours a week blogging. I work a minimum of 4 hours a day, 6 days a week on writing my posts, creating graphics, responding to emails, reading my friends posts, creating new content ideas, and finding new business opportunities. I absolutely love social media and business, so my goal is to grow but never, ever lose my authenticity. My advice on this is grow in a smart way. 

Grow by being yourself. You can buy followers, but not readers. Participating in giveaways occasionally is a great way to market yourself and get people interested and intrigued, but if that is your only source of growing, you will not receive the type of readership base you think you are.

Congruently to my point above, another way to grow is through partnering with brands, reviewing products, and writing sponsored posts. Sometimes people can be cynical about this, and that is something I do not understand - as long as your sponsored posts are not on a basis to where it outweighs your regular posts.

As I stated, a lot of us work very hard on our blogs. It is so enjoyable, but still time consuming, especially since a lot of us have full-time jobs and other things going on. Creating new content, creating graphics, finding new opportunities, reading our favorite blogs, writing posts, and responding to emails, takes quite a bit of effort and dedication. Therefore, do not knock a blogger or immediately click away when you someone has a sponsored post. A lot of us give away tons and tons of free recipes, advice, and more, so if an opportunity is presented to receive a little bit of compensation, do not automatically think negativitly about the post or the blogger.

We all love sharing new beauty finds, fitness products, good deals, etc., so a sponsored post is no different! It is a great way to try new products, get discounts, and share something you love or enjoy. Most reviews, even though they are sponsored, are still honest. That is one pledge I have to on my blog no matter what the product is.

My bottom line is blog how you want. I love variety and I love how we are all so different with an array of stories to tell and experiences to share. This post was just a tiny view of my experience thus far in the big ole' blogging world. 

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Miwok 100k

I was talking to Lisa the other day and she said something along the lines of how my next 50 mile race will be my second, but actually it will be my fifth. I realized that I have been very, very lax about posting my race recaps, and I do want to get them down on paper now so that I will remember it in years to come. So, here is the first of several very late recaps. I understand if you want to skip it and go read about something important, like Syria.

I put my name in the lottery for the Miwok 100k with the high expectation that I would not get in, and therefore would not have to run it. Little did I know that if you volunteer for them, you get preferential treatment for the next year's lottery. In 2013, I volunteered. In 2014, my name was picked for the lottery.

I had a good base of miles in early 2014, but then in March, I was injured (Achilles). I took about 4 weeks off from running leading up to Boston, and then had a really crappy race. Miwok was two weeks later. My goal was to finish, naturally, which seemed doable. The cut off time was 16 hours, which would mean I had to do about a 15 and a half minute pace the entire time in order to finish. However, I was still feeling the Achilles a little, and Boston had also kicked my butt, so I really was not sure what to expect. My plan was to stick with a friend of mine, Kelly, who is usually in the back half of the middle of the pack. This way, I would have moral support, as well as hopefully not overdoing it physically.

Approximately 12,000 ft of climbing

Miles 1 - 10: It started off with a pretty gradual uphill on a single track trail, where we all did the conga line for a while. This went on for about three miles and then it leveled out on the Bolinas ridge trail, which was good, except that it was still a very narrow and rutted single track through tall grass, and it was still pretty slow going, due to the conga line. It didn't spread out until maybe about mile 6 or 7, when it became a fire trail. The good part about this, is that it was an out and back section, so from mile 7 to the aid station (and turn around) at mile 10, you could see who was ahead of you and then afterward you could see who was behind. This often means cheering for a lot of your friends and/or fellow racers.

Bolinas Ridge Trail

Mile 10 - 20: There was an aid station around mile 10, where we got sunscreen and cheer from our friend Jenni. The aid station was also back at the bottom of a small hill, so afterward we hiked back up the hill, and back along the fire road. I remember talking to my running buddy about everything under the sun: her parents and their wacky ways, life in general, the price of gas when we started driving. At this point, the guy hiking up the hill next to us, who was wearing the craziest Hawaii printed swimming trunks, said gas was about .24 cents when he started driving. After that it was a really long uphill trek along the Matt Davis trail to Cardiac aid station, which is at the top of the hill. I was already starting to feel my Achilles and I wined to Kelly but she was not having any of that. She basically told me to shape up and get over it, and that there was no way I was going to quit this race. So I shut up and got over it (mostly).

Mile 20 - 30: After Cardiac, it is downhill to Muir Beach. This was one of my least favorite sections. The downhill was not too bad, but after the big downhill, you get to the highway, and have to run along that for a couple miles to get to Muir Beach. I was not a fan of the highway. After the highway, you reach the Zen center, but at that point, I was not feeling so zen. At Muir Beach, Jenni once again was there for moral support. We loaded up on watermelon and potatoes and started the climb up the Miwok trail.

Mile 30 - 40: At this point I was feeling okay. My Achilles was aching a little and my muscles were definitely reminding me that I was under-trained. At this point Kelly and I were not really saying too much to each other anymore. We had pretty much chatted non-stop for the first 30 miles, but now we were focusing on the path ahead of us. Of course it was another big uphill and another long down to get to the place I was most looking forward to, which was the Tennessee Valley aid station. Here is where I had my drop bag with lube, sunscreen, extra food and best of all, an extra pair of shoes and socks.

Changing my shoes and socks at mile 36 (TV) was the best thing I think I have ever done in my life. I felt refreshed and my toes felt happier. I resupplied my pack, threw away my garbage, grabbed a hummus and pita from the aid station and we hit the road again. Jenni was there again, which was mostly because her husband, who she was crewing, was running at about the same pace as us. I was even more glad to see her this time, as my spirits were starting to flag a bit by now. The fact that she was wearing a super woman outfit and a sparkly tutu was probably a big plus.

Trail angels

Mile 40 - 50:  The last section was a 11  mile loop around the coast and back to TV before heading on the final stretch home. This included one of the most beautiful parts of the course. First you go around on a bluff overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and the city. Then you head back around to the TV aid station at mile 47. At this point, I was pretty tired. I recovered my drop bag and was fishing around for more food when I ran into Dennis, an running friend of mine, who was pacing someone else. He told me to stop lollygagging and to get a move on. I was a bit bummed by the remaining aid station food, which consisted of jelly beans and cold pizza. I was feeling kind of hungry though, so I ate a few jelly beans and we headed out. Joining up with us was Kelly's pacer, John.

View of the city from the Coastal trail.

Next you go up, up, up the Coastal trail and then down to Pirates cove and then back up to the top of the hill again before heading to Muir beach. On this section we caught up again with Hawaiian shorts dude, whose name turned out to be Bob. We had been leapfrogging him for quite some time and as we headed up the hill on the Coastal trail, we chatted with him once again. I was really dreading the downhills more than the uphill.

Pirates Cove

Mile 50 - 62: Around mile 51, we got back to the Muir beach aid station. At this point I was pretty ready to be done. I knew what I had left: the paved section again, then back up the Cardiac hill to the Cardiac aid station. I knew that once I reached this, I would be fine. However, I was dreading the final downhill from Cardiac, as I remembered it as quite steep and my quads were pretty mad at me right now. Also, I was not sure if we would make it to the finish before dark, but I really wanted to try. We headed out. As we hit the pavement, my mind said, "screw this, I am going to move as fast as possible in order to get this over with" and I left Kelly and John in the dust. Okay, not really the dust, since (a) we were on pavement and (b) I was only running a few seconds faster than them. I passed about 10 people on this section, as many of them were walking, but I did not want to slow down; I just wanted to be done.

Next was the hill to Cardiac. This was not as bad as I thought it may be. I plodded along, passing people, getting passed, until I reached the aid station at the top of the hill. At this point, the sun was halfway down and it was getting  bit dusky. The aid station only had dry PB&Js and warm sports drink, so I left without getting anything and headed down the hill. The good thing was that it was not as steep as I remember it being and I actually ran down it the entire way. The other plus was that the sun was going down and I had a beautiful view of the sunset and the ocean as I was coming down the hill.

Dipsea trail to Stinston beach

I crossed the finish line with a time of 15:11, just as dark was beginning to fall.

The Verdict? Was this my fastest race? No. However, it was all in all not as bad as I thought it would be, having gone into it with a minor injury and not enough training. Would I like to do it again? Probably, because I know that I can do it better. Was I proud of myself? Definitely. This, to date, is my longest distance ever and I finished the race before the cutoff. That is something to be proud of. And actually, I was less sore in the days after Miwok than I was in the days following Boston.

Now the question is...since this is a Western States qualifying race, will I put my name in the lottery for WSER next year? I think I have to. Don't I?

What is the longest distance you have ever run? Do you ever post recaps really late just to have a record or would you say, "forget about it" after a certain amount of time has gone by?

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